Did ID-friendly Rick Santorum actually win Iowa?

Remember US prez hopeful Rick Santorum of the 2001 ID-friendly Santorum Amendment? Due to a miscount, he may have won Iowa after all:

The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party issued a statement Thursday night in response to a story from the Des Moines CBS affiliate, KCCI, which reports there was a 20-vote discrepancy in rural Appanoose county, which is located along the Missouri line.

Citing an interview with the vote counter, who asserts that 20 votes were mistakenly recorded for Mitt Romney, the story raises the question of whether the results of Tuesday’s caucus might have been different — and whether Rick Santorum should have won.

We’ll see.

Early dirt dug up on Santorum doesn’t mention it. But if he’s around long enough, he might qualify as an anti-science czar.

2 Responses to Did ID-friendly Rick Santorum actually win Iowa?

Counting ballots isn’t an error-free business. In a contest that close a re-count could easily result in switching the outcome. But keep in mind that means that even if Santorum picked up 20 extra votes in Appanoose County, Romney might well pick up more than than across the state as a whole.

In any event, since so few votes separate the candidates, I suspect most voters consider them tied for first place. Switching the rank ordering in Iowa probably wouldn’t have a very big impact on how people vote in the remaining primaries/caucuses.